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They’re back, and the question now is how long will they stay. 

The city’s first batch of 3,000 crosswalk flags, intended for pedestrians to wave as they cross busy streets, was swiped within 10 months of being put at four intersections. With 3,000 more flags received last week, city officials are giving one of its least expensive but most maligned traffic safety programs a second chance. 

This time, the program includes three more intersections. Also, the new flags are yellow, changed from orange, which pedestrians often confused as construction equipment, city officials said. 

Despite the changes, many residents continue to scoff the program. 

“It’s such a council idea. Lets put the flag up instead of solving the problem,” said John Buchman as he walked along the intersection of Hearst and University avenues without a flag. 

In addition to the four original intersections equipped last December, the flags can now be found at Cedar and Vine streets, College Avenue and Russell Street, and University and Shattuck avenues. 

Pedestrian safety has been a long-standing issue in Berkeley. According to recent police statistics, 66 pedestrians have been injured and one killed by motorists this year.  

The program which has cost the city about $12,000 so far was seen as a less expensive way to address the problem. 

The flags, however got off to a rough start. During the first week of the program, a woman waving a flag was struck by a car on the intersection of Claremont Avenue and Russell Street. She did not suffer serious injuries. 

City Councilmember Polly Armstrong, who championed the program in council, maintains that crossing flags still have promise. 

“They offer a very inexpensive increase in pedestrian visibility,” she said. 

Still, she was disappointed with the flags first run. “What I didn’t envision was all the stealing,” she said. “It’s pretty depressing that people think that this kind of pilfering of public property is acceptable. I thought better of Berkeley.” 

But flag theft does not make Berkeley unique among cities that have tried the program.  

According to transportation officials in Salt Lake City, the city on which Armstrong modeled Berkeley’s plan, 10,000 flags have been stolen since the project started two years and three months ago. Given that Salt Lake City provided more flags, the theft rate is about the same as Berkeley’s. 

“We see a lot of them on motorized wheelchairs and [Utah] Jazz basketball games,” said Yvon Wright of Salt Lake City’s transportation department.  

Berkeley officials report that most of the city’s flags were tossed into trees, chucked into trash cans, and taken home by children either as toys or trophies. 

The key difference between Salt Lake City and Berkeley crossing flag programs has not been theft, but pedestrians’ willingness to walk in public carrying the flag. 

Dan Bergenthal, Salt Lake City’s transportation director said recent studies show that 14 percent of pedestrians use the flags, not a high number he admits, but enough to make the program worth while. 

Peter Hillier, Berkeley’s transportation head, refused to pass judgment on the crossing flags until the results of an upcoming review. But he acknowledged that, “from a cursory look, not many people pick them up.” 

A Berkeley resident who refused to give her name thought she knew why the flags haven’t caught on. 

“This isn’t Salt Lake City. There’s lots of girls here who spend hundreds of dollars on their outfits. There’s no way they’re going to be seen in public carrying a bright yellow flag.” Still she said she supports the flags and has noticed that many seniors and disabled people choose to use them. 

The flags’ second chance comes amid tough times for pedestrian safety advocates. Berkeley’s plan for improved pedestrian safety measures took a hit last week when voters rejected a measure to raise $10 million to fund a variety of safety programs. 

Hillier said that without the money, the city would be able to purchase fewer traffic circles and make fewer infrastructure improvements to slow car traffic. 

Nevertheless, he said the loss of transportation funds would not necessarily mean that his department would embrace traffic flags as a less expensive alternative. 

Hillier said he will study the effectiveness of this round of the flag program and report to City Council on its effectiveness next year. 

Contact reporter at matt@ 

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